A group of motherboard enthusiasts working for GIGABYTE, sharing their insider knowledge and general ramblings of the motherboard business, the tech industry, latest technologies and trends, and other random odds and ends.

Thursday, September 29, 2011

Windows 8 is around the corner and it looks really cool. I haven't seen much of these demos until I came across this youtube video by an end user in Korea going through the menus on a GIGABYTE T1125 Touch-Notebook.

Wednesday, September 28, 2011

High-end technologies usually take some time to trickle down to mainstream products due to the slow rate at which prices come down to everyday user affordability. In the case of easy network management, it has taken a lot less time than we would have expected, and we have just announced GIGABYTE LAN Optimizer that allows you to prioritize programs accessing your Internet connection, offering more bandwidth control than has ever been available on mainstream platforms. Check out the GIGABYTE LAN Optimizer press releasefor a full list of supporting motherboard models (at least 27 of them).

We first saw this kind of feature on the extremely high-end G1-Killer gaming motherboards from the feature-packed Killer e2100 gaming LAN solution from Big Foot Networks. GIGABYTE LAN Optimizer is a somewhat simpler, yet effective and fun solution. There are 4 modes that allow you to optimize bandwidth for gaming, video streaming or browsing, and of course there is also an auto mode that dynamically optimizes bandwidth as you go.

Vivi is a well known South African overclocker, well regarded in extreme overclocking circles. It’s nice to see him spend time showing his readers how to understand more about hardware we use for gaming these days without taking himself too seriously.

It is not often you see a pretty straight forward and easy to read article on power delivery for a piece of hardware. No need for a degree in electrical engineering to figure this one out, check it all out at Xtreme Systems forum.

Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Our good friends over at Cooler Master have posted some really cool pictures of a G1.Assassin case mod on their facebook page. The original article is from PConline in China. This is without a doubt one of the most impressive military style case mods that I’ve seen and is a tribute to the growing talent and enthusiasm for case modding that we are seeing from China. Here are some more shots for your viewing pleasure:

Feel free to post more case mod links below. We’ll post ‘em if we like ‘em!

Yesterday we posted an article that outlined the mechanics of how Intel’s forthcoming Sand Bridge E processors will be overclocked – thanks to Bit-Tech for that one. Today we’ve come across an Intel slide that appears to have gotten into the hands of Taiwanese techies at TopPC.com.tw which outlines a ‘theoretical’ upper limit to the Sandy Bridge processor architecture. According to the slide, which offers details about base clock speeds and Turbo speeds, when you take into account the Base Clock (blck) maximum, and maximum processor multiplier, a CPU core clock ceiling of exactly 9.5GHz is apparent. Check the image below.

Clearly interesting times lie ahead for overclockers and extreme system tuners once Sandy Bridge E arrives. But let’s also be realistic; a theoretical limit is exactly that, it basically means that the processors microcode will understand instructions and offer BIOS configurations that will end at 9.5GHz. It is however unlikely that anyone will ever get to that speed. Look at it this way. Previous gen Gulftown processors had a theoretical limit of approx 16GHz! However, we rarely ever saw one push 7GHz…

Interesting to note that AMD just broke the world record a week or so ago for the "Highest Frequency of a Computer Processor" using a new Bulldozer FX processor doing at an astonishing 8.429GHz on liquid helium.

So yeah, we’re living in very interesting times indeed, with two new and competing enthusiast platforms just around the corner. It’s safe to say that we’re more than looking forward to launching a range of motherboards that’ll give you every excuse to Overclock your Bulldozer or Sandy Bridge E CPU to the limit, including one particular X79 board model which is optimized precisely for that purpose – watch this space!

Monday, September 26, 2011

One of the most eye-catching technical specs regarding the Intel’s new Sandy-Bridge E platform revealed at IDF last week, is without doubt its quad channel memory infrastructure. While today’s Sandy Bridge uses dual channel memory and the X58 Gulftown platform boasted triple channel, the forthcoming X79 platform is going all out with four channels of DDR3 . As if in celebration, Kingston had a demo at IDF that showed what you can do with four channels of RAM, demoing a GIGABYTE X79-UD5 board packing 8 x 8GB DDR3 DIMMs for a massive 64GB of system memory!

Clive Webster published an interesting article last week that offers a glimpse in to how we are going to Overclock the next enthusiast processor family from the Intel. Codenamed Sandy Bridge E, Intel’s new enthusiast range is understandably starting to catch the attention of the Overclocking fraternity, who will be curious to read Clive’s initial analysis during the IDF show were Intel offered demonstration overclocks to media.

“All of Intel’s demonstration overclocks at IDF 2011 involved System Clock, CPU divider and CPU multiplier tinkering, but we saw enough to explain how to overclock a ‘locked’ Sandy Bridge E processor. Intel is still recommending that you don’t take the System Clock beyond 5 per cent of the nominal 100MHz, so to overclock a ‘locked’ Sandy Bridge E CPU you need to balance that 95-105MHz System Clock range with a gearing of 1.25x or 1.66x, and possibly by dropping the CPU multiplier.

There are a couple of other noteworthy features of Sandy Bridge E when it comes to overclocking. For example, the memory straps of a Sandy Bridge E system are still in 266MHz increments (Ivy Bridge will introduce finer control for the memory controller), and it still supports XMP for easy memory overclocking. We should also see the same voltage options in a Sandy Bridge E system as a Sandy Bridge system, as the voltage planes haven’t changed. This will mean two primary voltage options - one for the cores and one for the uncore area (the System Agent, memory controller, DMI controller, PCI-E controller and everything else that isn’t an execution core).”

Thursday, September 22, 2011

Vito Cassisi at Aussie review house Atomic PC now joins a long and growing list of reviewers that have tasted the incredible gaming delights of our new Sandy Bridge G-Killer board, the G1. Sniper 2. Applause to Vito for asking the most important question:

“Does it kick arse?We've met the G1.Assassin previously, and were very impressed by the board. We weren't so keen on the cost. The Sniper 2 is certainly cheaper, but does can it match the X58 variant in performance and features?

We entered the familiar blue BIOS screen and got right into tweaking. We started off by setting the core voltage to 1.45v and ramping up PWM and Over Current Protection to avoid being held back. The memory was then set to 1866MHz and the CPU multiplier to 50x for a 5GHz overclock. After confirming stability with Prime95, a 51x multiplier was used, and then 52x which didn't last too long under stress. Reducing the base clock to 99.5 MHz and increasing the voltage to 1.49v (level 7 LLC) scored us a stable overclock of 5174MHz, which is an admirable achievement. We couldn't raise the memory clock to 2133MHz without very loose timings, so we stuck to the default XMP profile throughout.

Compared to the ASUS Sabertooth P67 we reviewed in June, the extra 150MHz gives the G1.Sniper 2 a clear advantage in benchmark scores, bar the Everest read test due to the lack of a memory overclock. It even gives the G1.Assassin a run for its money - the X58 platform struggles to compete.

If the previous G1.Killer range enticed you, but the price or platform held you back, we highly recommend this board. We're eager to try an Ivy Bridge processor with it!”

Great to see we won the Atomic Hot Award. Really appreciate the love guys…

Tech Radar, a closely related online cousin of PC Format has taken our top end AMD 900 series board to task, investigating the pros and cons of investing a full 200 notes in such a purchase. Seems like these Brits were impressed enough to award the board a 4/5 star rating and their sincerest approval.

“This high-end Gigabyte 990FX motherboard actually represents something quite new from the Taiwanese manufacturer; namely a high-price, high-performance AMD motherboard. Gigabyte has obviously long-supported the AMD side of the PC world, but until now hadn't released a serious top-end product in that market…..

Verdict So, if you've got around £200 to spend on a motherboard, and you want a high bang for buck ratio, the bucks, if you can chuck in the extra few, must go to the Gigabyte board. The Gigabyte GA-990FXA-UD7 justifies its price tag with its performance, tons of ports and four-way SLI.”

Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Shannon Rob at Bjorn3D has taken a shine to our new Sandy Bridge gaming motherboard, the G1. Sniper 2, awarding it the Silver Award. Here’s a sample of what he had to say.

“The G1.Sniper 2 is an excellent board with a lot of innovative features that should make gamers rejoice. These features make excellent additions to any board and we are really surprised to see that GIGABYTE is the only manufacturer to adopt such unique features as they really do make for a great gaming board. Add to that the fact that its ready for 22nm Ivy Bridge processors and PCI-E 3, and we have a board is actually future-proofed to an extent.

Summary: The GIGABYTE G1.Sniper 2 performs well and has some exclusive and hard to beat features that makes it an excellent buy for many gamers out there. For its performance and features it earns the Bjorn3D Silver Bear Award.”

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Mark Azzi from Team Immunity (iM) gaming team took out the EA FIFA 12 Community Summit in Sydney and won himself a signed Tim Cahill jersey and a football. That’s very cool and congrats to iM for on their great gaming performance in yet another gaming title.

If you ever wanted to dabble in the world of Hackintosh building, then tonymacx86 is the man to visit. For his ‘CustoMac Mini 2011 prospective build’ Tony recommends the GIGABYTE H67N-USB3-B3 Mini-ITX board. Highlights include Intel HD 3000 graphics and working HDMI audio.

This build is all about getting good value for money in a small form factor. The basic cost of the machine in terms of chassis, motherboard, CPU and RAM is a paltry $322…

Friday, September 16, 2011

Among a splattering of X79 GIGABYTE boards that made their media debut this week at IDF, one of the most eagerly anticipated must surely be the G1. Assassin 2 motherboard, which will eventually become our flagship X79 enthusiast gaming board. As you’d expect from a G1-Killer motherboard, the G1. Assassin 2 features dedicated advanced onboard networking and sound processors so you’ll get the ultimate gaming experience, no holds bared – which should all look damn good packing Intel’s new Sandy Bridge-E processors. Take a peek at these images and let your imagination wander!

You know the old saying, there is a first time for everything. This is precisely what Dennis from Ninjalane.com recently experienced and shared with his readers. He decided to try out LN2 overclocking and used Gigabyte’s two iconic boards, X58A-OC and 990FXA-UD7 to learn on.

If you’ve been wondering what it’s all about or wishing you could try something like this, well make it your first time too by getting some of this gear or jumping on forums and check if there are any keen overclockers near you and join in the fun!

Thursday, September 15, 2011

IDF has been dominating the news columns of tech and PC websites for most of this week. For those of you out of the loop, IDF or Intel Developer Forum is held annually in San Francisco and is one of the most widely anticipated events of the year. At IDF you’ll find Intel and its partners revealing a bestockinged leg or two - technologically speaking, just to get you all worked up and panting hard as we head into Q4, and the new wave of product offerings that inevitably follow.

This year the main focus from our own motherboard perspective, is of course the forthcoming Intel X79 platform launch and the new Sandy-Bridge-E processors that will form the new enthusiast DIY PC segment for some time to come. Various media at the event have published images of our new X79 offerings, here is a selection of the best for your perusal:

Hot Hardware

Our buddy Marco Chiappetta was on patrol at the show and took this beauty of the back panel IO of the X79-UD7 board.

“The UD7 also features a newer color scheme which eschews the blue and black of the other boards in favor of an orange and black color scheme. Also note, the UD7’s slot configuration will allow for quad-GPU setups, whereas the other boards can “only” do 3-way SLI or CrossFire.” – Hot Hardware

Tech Report

Another veteran motherboard commentator and reviewer Geoff Gasior was un hand to take this shot of our new G1-Killer board, the G1.Assassin 2. Wowser!

“Want upgraded integrated peripherals? Gigabyte also has a G1.Assasin 2 model with Bigfoot networking and Creative audio. There are still three PCIe x16 slots, but the number of DIMM slots and Serial ATA ports has been trimmed. Although it still sports a whopping dozen SATA ports…..” – Tech Report.

VR-Zone

LG Nilsson published a bunch of images including this one of the whole family sitting side by side. A mouth watering posse of X79 goodness!

“Starting at the top we have the G1.Assassin 2 X79 and the biggest surprise here really is the re-designed heatsinks which are much less in your face than the current models. That said, Gigabyte might very well change this before the board is launching, but we'll just have to wait and see if we'll get a gun themed heatsink or not on the final boards. Expected features include a Killer NIC, Creative X-Fi audio and 3-way SLI and CrossFireX support. We also spotted a Marvell controller for a pair of eSATAp (eSATA/USB combo) ports and a Fresco Logic USB 3.0 host controller on the board.” – VR-Zone

AnandTech

Mr Lal Shimpi was of course in his element during the show, posting a whole bunch great photos, including this brilliant shot of our X79-UD5. Enough RAM slots for yer Ananand?

“Although Sandy Bridge E is still a couple of months away from launch, Intel's partners were allowed to show systems as long as they didn't divulge clock speeds or allow for anyone to play with the USB ports….Major themes? Cheaper boards have 4 DIMM slots (1 DIMM per channel) while the more expensive boards will have 8 DIMM slots (2 DIMMs per channel).” - AnandTech

As we mentioned in our X79 coverage yesterday, none of the motherboard manufacturers were allowed to show BIOS/UEFI screenshots out of fear of accidentally disclosing clock speeds. Gigabyte's X79 motherboards in particular are going to feature a new UEFI setup which we have a few screenshots from in the gallery below.

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Our favorite reviewer and power user Sin0822 has no doubt had an exhausting day in San Francisco enjoying all things Intel-related at the Intel Developer Forum, which just closed its doors after the first day. But lucky for us Sin0822 managed to find the time to shoot some great photos of our new X79 platform boards making their debut at IDF this week. Here’s a selection of a few choice specimens:

As you can see the GIGABYTE X79-UD7 sports our uniquely eye-catching orange coloring, perhaps alluding to it’s potential overclocking supremacy.

I had a quick play with GIGABYTE G1 SNIPER2 motherboard today with 3 different high speed RAM kits from Kingston, G.Skill & Corsair to show you how to quickly get them up and running at optimal settings.

I’ve done a couple of different videos with RAM setups (with 2 and 4 stick setups)

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Our old pal Linus from Linus Tech Tips is back at it again, this time taking on our beautifully high-end bulldozing motherboard, the GIGABYTE 990FXA-UD7 board. Just as you expect, Linus takes us on a swift moving tour of the board, its packaging and key features. Some would call it good old fashioned motherboard porn, but for most of us, it’ll be something much more intimate and fulfilling; i.e. a damn good look at perhaps the most attractive AMD board we’ve ever done, Cheers Linus. Enjoy!

The 990FXA-UD7 is one of the very first ever motherboards to feature both 4-way SLI and Crossfire X making it the most multi-GPU prepped AMD boards out there. With AMD’s Bulldozer launch coming soon…this baby will be the ideal companion. Check out the specs and more at the GB site here.

The GIGABYTE E-Sports Championships (GESC) team are proud to announce our first foray into Starcraft 2. With over $6,500 in cash prizes up for grabs the event will be held in Melbourne at Respawn LAN on the 24th of September. This will be the second GESC event of 2011 and will feature thirty-two of Australia's top StarCraft 2 players competing in a double-elimination format for their share in cash and prizes.

All matches will be played out on over $30,000 worth of Gigabyte, Intel and GeIL powered gaming machines featuring Intel Core i7 processors, Gigabyte Motherboards and GeIL DDR3 Memory. Stay tuned for updates and information on the chance to obtain a wild card invite!

Monday, September 12, 2011

Jonathon Fitzgerald from TeamAU, also known as “2for40” Uncle Fester, decided it was time to make a new online magazine called Hardware Leaks to rival the well established The Overclocker it seems. It’s great to see another Australian serve up a nice read for us extreme overclockers. The Overclocker, for the uninformed, was originally formed by a couple of Aussies, Nick Ross and Josh Collins and taken over by Neo Sibeko from South Africa a while ago. Well done to both mags, keep them coming boys!

“SERVING UP HARDWARE AT -196C” << I like!

It looks like a healthy battle for extreme overclocking readership is about to get under way just like an epic battle between GIGABYTE X58A-OC vs ASUS Rampage 3 Extreme, “last hurrah for overclockers of the X58 platform” according to the author of the article in the first issue of the mag.

Friday, September 9, 2011

The quest to find the best APU overclocker is now complete, or at least it is for the time bieng. Running for the duration of August, the A75 OC Challenge was GIGABYTE’s first ever overclocking competition based around AMD’s new high powered, graphics toting A-Series APUs, or Accelerated Processor Units. Involving a series of benchmarks, the A75 OC Challenge asked the question…who is the best APU overclocker out there today? Who can push these integrated graphics chips further than they ever been pushed before? Now we can reveal all….